The California Supreme Court has ruled the state's Government Claims Act provides immunity for officials in lawsuits alleging wrongful prosecutions, not investigations, in a suit asserting Riverside County sheriff's deputies left a partially nude murder victim in open view for eight hours while they investigated.
The June 22 decision was rendered by Justice Leondra Kruger, with concurrence from Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero and Associate Justices Goodwin Liu, Carol Corrigan, Martin Jenkins, Joshua Groban and Kelli Evans, of the California Supreme Court. The ruling favored Dora Leon in her action against Riverside County.
In May 2017 in the Los Angeles suburb of Cherry Valley, Dora Leon's husband, Jose Leon, was shot to death by a neighbor in a driveway. Riverside County sheriff's deputies responded in 10 minutes. Deputies heard more shots and dragged Jose's body behind a vehicle to give aid, but he died. Jose's pants slid down while he was dragged, exposing his genitals. His corpse remained uncovered eight hours in public view, while deputies evacuated the neighborhood, hunted down the neighbor and investigated. They eventually found the neighbor had killed himself.
Dora Leon sued the County in Riverside County Superior Court, alleging the deputies' negligence in leaving her husband exposed, inflicted emotional distress on her. Judge Daniel Ottolia agreed with the County that under the 1963 California Government Claims Act, the deputies were immune to the suit; while the body may have been left exposed, it was in the course of a criminal investigation, the judge determined. The California Fourth District Appellate Court also agreed.
State Supreme Court Justice Kruger disagreed, however, pointing out the Claims Act only protects officers from lawsuits arising from cases alleging misconduct in prosecutions and official proceedings, not investigations. And in the Leon matter, no one was prosecuted.
"Dora [Leon] is not suing the County and its officers for causing an unjust prosecution, but for the officers’ lack of care in handling her late husband’s body," Kruger noted.
The County tried to maneuver around this snag by arguing harm caused by investigations qualifies, because investigations and prosecutions are closely related.
However, this reasoning did not wash with Kruger.
The County "ignores the simple reality that investigations need not, and often do not, lead to the institution or prosecution of any proceedings — a fact that ought to serve as a tipoff that the two things are not the same and cannot plausibly be treated as though they were," Kruger said.
In addition, Kruger determined the Act's legislative history "contains no suggestion that the statute was also designed to create a new and much broader immunity for police officers engaged in investigation."
Leon has been represented by Steven Zwick and James Alquist, of the Law Office of Steven Zwick, which is based in Mission Viejo.
The County has been defended by Arthur K. Cunningham, Jeffry A. Miller and Lann G. McIntyre, of Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith, which is based in Los Angeles.